In June 1995, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism sponsored a symposium on "Alcohol and Osteoporosis" at the Research Society on Alcoholism in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The goals of the symposium were to: (a) disseminate current information on the effects of alcohol on osteoporosis, both deleterious and beneficial; (b) discuss the mechanisms, direct and indirect, by which alcohol affects bone remodeling; and (c) encourage research in the area of alcohol and osteoporosis. This report provides an introduction to the problem, as well as to the three scientific presentations. Key Words: Alcohol, Osteoporosis, Bone.